NYC's casino opens April 28

Resorts World New York City plans to open the city’s first full-scale casino floor on April 28, if state regulators finish final testing this week. (fox5ny.com) The Queens property in Ozone Park already runs a video lottery terminal casino at Aqueduct Racetrack, but the April 28 launch would add live dealer table games for the first time in New York City. (fox5ny.com, gaming.ny.gov) Resorts World said the first phase will open with more than 240 table games, including blackjack, craps, baccarat and roulette, plus more than 2,500 slot machines on a reworked third floor. (agbrief.com, fox5ny.com) The opening follows a state licensing process that moved quickly at Aqueduct: the Community Advisory Committee advanced the bid on September 25, 2025, the Gaming Facility Location Board selected it on December 1, 2025, and the Gaming Commission approved the commercial license on December 15, 2025. (nycasinos.ny.gov) That sequence left Resorts World ahead of the other two downstate winners, Bally’s Bronx and Hard Rock Metropolitan Park in Queens, because it could convert an existing gambling site instead of building from scratch. (gaming.ny.gov, sbcamericas.com) The operator said Genting chairman KT Lim, rapper Nas, elected officials and community leaders are expected at the ribbon-cutting, with Nas slated for the ceremonial first dice throw. (sbcamericas.com) Resorts World said it has added about 1,250 jobs for the launch, including roughly 950 table-game dealers, bringing total employment above 2,200 before the next phase of expansion. (agbrief.com, sbcamericas.com) The broader project is larger than next week’s opening: Resorts World has pitched a $5.5 billion to $7.5 billion buildout with up to 2,000 hotel rooms, a 7,000-seat entertainment venue, 6,000 slot machines and 800 live table games at full scale. (rwnewyork.com, rwnewyork.com) Under New York’s downstate tax formula, Resorts World’s gaming revenue is earmarked first for education aid and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, tying the Queens opening directly to two of the state’s biggest budget priorities. (gaming.ny.gov) If regulators sign off on schedule, April 28 will turn a long-running racetrack casino on Rockaway Boulevard into the first place in the five boroughs where bettors can sit down with a live dealer and play. (fox5ny.com, gaming.ny.gov)